Wednesday, November 7, 2012

{Holiday 2012}

Well we had a great show at the Ankeny Art Center sponsored Santa's North Pole vendor show! Here are a few of the holiday items that are either ready or can be replicated at your request!










You can contact me via my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tgdesignsbytraci, commenting on the blog post or emailing me at tgdesignsbytraci{at}gmail{.}com.

Monday, October 8, 2012

My Opinion Monday - Runners on the left, walkers to the right...

please.

I found myself saying this a few times this weekend. I mean, I did participate in 2 5k's this weekend! Okay okay, the first one was just a walk but the second one, well, Val and I went balls to the wall and ran the whole damn thing. Yeah, we're pretty proud of ourselves. We celebrated with lots of booze and fried food...and by missing our morning workout today. I'll take credit for that, I sent the "I'm not going to make it" text. Whateves, we ran 3.2 miles and to us, it was like running a full marathon. We've only been "running" - I use that word loosely, I've been tripping and falling more than running - for a few weeks now but have managed to take a whole minute off our mile time. MILE, not 3.2 MILES. This is the furthest we've run together. And like we told the boys after the race, we always finish together. Novel idea, right boys?

Anyways, so my peeve this weekend was dealing with slow ass people in the left lanes of the race. I mean, if they read the 10 page packet they would know that they should scoot themselves to the right of the path to let those that are actually trying to finish the race running pass by without having to give them elbows and want to push them down. And even if they didn't read the packet, come on people - it's common sense. Pretend you're driving on the interstate. You pass on the left and drive super slow in the right lane. That same theory applies here too. 

I'm not an avid runner, but I was trying to prove to myboyfriendself that I could actually finish something and was kind of excited to see my boyfriend not show up to the finish line. I just felt like the people that gave me dirty looks for saying "excuse me" in the nicest possible way - I was at the happiest 5k on the planet - were being real assholes. I tried my best to be polite and I think I did do that. But I think the next time I plan to actually run the entire race, I'm going to get a shirt that says "If you're walking and I just had to dodge around you, move to the right." I might through a cuss word in there, people tend to respond to cursing quite well. 

Anyways, here's proof that Val and I finished The Color Run:

Yes, this photo is named lightenup.jpg. Not because I need
to lighten up, but because I lightened the picture up. 
So anyways, read the pre-race packets or just use some common sense and move over if you're walking. That way I don't have to get in a big tizzy about it. 

Friday, October 5, 2012

Gettin' busy...

in the craft room people, geesh. You know my mom reads this, I have to keep it pretty G rated. 

Look what I just received:

You'll notice the quality of this picture is much better than you're use to seeing. Also, it's from
my new CELL phone camera!! New camera AND new phone - whoop whoop!
These are about to be made into Christmas stockings, wreaths and pillows. Get excited!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well, not everywhere you go, but most places. If you walked into my house you'd see this hanging from the mantel:


Oh, did I mention, I got a new camera. I'm learning how to use it and make my pictures look better than they did on the cell phone. Work in progress people. But anyways, you'll be seeing more of these. I grabbed some gray and cream chevron fabric too, expect to see a few of those on the 'ol blog too. and wreaths, and pillows, and whatever else I can dream up!

Monday, September 24, 2012

My Opinion Monday - On raising a fish.

A year ago,  boyfriend and I got a fish. A beta to be exact. We named him Ron. Boyfriend liked to refer to him as "master" beta -(get it??) he's 28 folks. Anyways, we took care of Ron really well in the beginning. Changed his water regularly, (over)fed him, and had him right on the mantle so everyone could see him.

Fast forward a few months. We got rid of the rocks that were in his bowl, and the other things too. They were just gross to clean out when we actually did that. And by we, I mean me. Boys don't know how to do everything you know.  And then he set on our desk. Which was in the back of the living room, making it harder to remember that we actually had a fish.

Then Tyler's niece discovered Ron. She always fed him when she came over and made sure he was entertained. She asked to take him out of the bowl many times to play with him. Bless her heart. Mya was the last one to feed Ron and realize he was actually alive. 2 weeks ago.

Last night after we came home from having a few drinks with some friends, I suddenly remembered we had a fish. And poor Ron. He was not floating, but he had sunk to the bottom of his poorly cleaned bowl. Tyler said he sank because he was a treasure (he'd had a few drinks). We said our good-bye's and sent him off to be with Nemo (meaning we flushed him).

So now we have 2 fish bowls (because I bought him a new, smaller one a few weeks ago, put water in it and set it next to him...obviously never getting around to actually moving him over to cleaner water) and some fish food leftover.

Here is the only picture we have of Ron. May he rest in peace.

Ron. 9/2011-9/2012. 
And may we re-evaluate the whole getting married to have kids thing.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Someone has a birthday today...it's my mom! I won't tell you her age, but one year ago for her 60th birthday, I took her to Graceland to celebrate with the King!

I made her wear a Disney princess "birthday girl" button around Beale Street. (And I can no longer fit into that vest!)
Here she is with "The King" himself...

Okay, maybe not the real King, but close enough.
Being with the "real king" would have landed us in jail for digging up a corpse...
or at least kicked out of Graceland. 
I'd say she had a great time last year....and I did too!

Sorry we can't celebrate like this every year mom! I did manage to find a special picture for you though...

I'm pretty sure he was singing Happy Birthday to you in this picture... 

Happy Birthday, mom! Love you!

I hope this makes up for the fact that I suck and didn't get your card in the mail until yesterday so you won't get it until tomorrow :) 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

My Opinion Monday - The padded sports bra

I should note that from the time I was in 6th grade (and on) was a very tramatic time for me (and my boobs). I was inducted into the IBTC (itty, bitty, titty committee) and called the "great plains" while my friend who was most likely only an A at the time was referred to as the "rocky mountains." In 8th grade I was dumped by a 6th grader for a girl that had a B-cup. No joke. And in high school  my volleyball coach made a comment about not having my sprots bra on. I spouted off about how it was unfair that everyone knows how small chested I was just by looking at me, while we could not tell just by looking at guys what they were packing (you know, down below). I'm sure I would have been suspended indefinitely for saying that these days.

mom, this is where you tell dad this blog, well, he probably doesn't want to read it. Just tell him my car is running just fine and I'll need an oil change this weekend. 

I'm 28 years old. I haven't worn a sports bra since I was in 6th grade. I didn't need one then and I don't need one now.

Well, I didn't need one until I gained 15 lbs in a 12 month span. Besides adding some extra inches to my stomach, hips and thighs, I managed to get some extra fat where I really wanted it - in the boobies!

Unfortunately, I can not keep all this weight. I have not put on a pair of pants (that I didn't buy this summer because I couldn't fit into old ones) since last fall/winter. With the time of year quickly approaching, I'm on a mission to lose some weight and get into shape so I can look fabulous in jeans and sweaters - which seems really dumb since I'd rather look great in a swimsuit but, this is how I do. I started running a few weeks ago to get in shape for the upcoming Color Run. And that's when I noticed that my little everyday training bra was not going to cut it if I was going to get serious about working on my fitness.

So yesterday after Val and I went and got our bodies measured up (my thighs are the same size as some peoples waists), we headed out on a shopping spree of sorts to get some new gear. We needed a yoga mat, some weights and a jump rope. The first two things I picked up where a sports bra and a new top. Par for the course when Val and I are shopping.

I guess I thought all sports bras were like those from 6th grade. You know the ones - white cotton with a one inch elastic band around the bottom, give you a glorious uniboob (or in my case, just letting everyone around me know that I do wear padded bras and am working with pretty much nothing in that area). They are not. I picked up a nice padded sports bra that yes, does indeed make me look as though I'm rocking a decent A cup, rather than some AAA that those of 6th grade would have made me look like.

Today was our first day of this FitCamp we're attending. We had to run a mile. I wore my new sports bra and oh.my.god. Life changing. Who knew?! It's just one less area of pudge giggling around reminding me how I shouldn't have eaten the 6 crab rangoons with my Chinese takeout all those times over the past 12 months. UGH.

Friday, August 31, 2012

I can explain....

Hi all, I know that you have been missing my posts. And I can explain. See, I have been using my cell phone camera to take pictures of my projects. Well, said cell phone camera has finally bit the bullet and rather than taking a picture, just shuts my cell phone down for a restart. So I am without any way of taking pictures until I get a new phone or an actual camera. 

For your reference, here is the phone I am rocking. Yes, you see the 2009 copyright under the picture? That means I've had this phone for 3+ years. It has served me well with its slide out keyboard and 3megapixel camera. I am deathly afraid of the new keyboard-less phones. I tried to use one last night to send my mom a text and somehow locked up the phone and then converted it to Spanish, all in a 3 minute time-span. It was stressful. 




Boyfriend and I are getting a cell phone plan together. I think we understand that this will be more of a commitment than a house or marriage would be. We are going with US Cellular though, and they have no contracts so maybe we can get out of it when we break up?? We shall see.

Until then, I will do my best to come back with some opinions on Mondays. The ones I want to talk about involve pictures - either me drawing them or from my phone - so I'll have to come up with something else that annoys the piss out of me. I'm sure that won't be too hard.

I'll be back...just wait and see.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

My Opinion Monday - Kids being criminals.

So last weekend, my friend left her wallet in the cup holder of her car. At 6PM in broad daylight, her passenger window was busted into and 3 thugs got off with a measly $40 and some credit cards. They used the same card twice at the same gas station for booze and cigs. And do you know what people are saying to her first? "Well, why did you leave that in your car?" COME ON PEOPLE, have you never left anything in your car? Just because you leave something in your car does NOT give anyone the invite to bust our your window and steal it. There are several things that peeve me off about this whole situation.

1. Blaming her. Yes officer/cashier/close friend, she knows that it should have been either in her trunk or in her house. But things happen, we get busy and distracted and we forget. It's not like she left a friggin baby in there. Her wallet is the size of a credit card and if you were just passing by, you wouldn't have seen it. It's the fact that 3 kids were making a point to look into everyone's car that it was actually seen. The last thing anyone that has their car broken into wants to hear is "well you shouldn't have left it there in the first place" - how about a little "Oh man, that really sucks. Did you cancel your cards yet? Is there anything I can do? Should I open that bottle of wine yet?" That is what you say. So unless you're going to say that, zip it.

2. The fact we went to the gas station that these people used her card at, twice within a 5 minute period I might add, and the cashier was like, "Oh yes, I do remember running that card." Okay Sally, well, that card was stolen. Then she says to the other cashier, "Jennifer, we're going to be $50 short tomorrow because she cancelled these two transactions." WTF? Are you serious lady? She shows us the receipts - booze and cigs. The receipt notes "ID VERIFIED TO CUSTOMER" with a birth date of 1944 on one and 1973 on the other. From what the neighbors say, these boys were maybe 15. I realize she was most likely afraid of being shot, but when an id says SALLY JOHNSON and 2 boys use the same card within 5 minutes, obviously something is not right.

3. The fact that these kids will do this again. They got away with it for a little while, at least until she cancelled her cards. The next time they tried to use her card I'm sure the cashier confiscated it and told the boys to leave. And that's it. Nothing else. No punishment, no restitution, no nothing. But my friend is stuck with cleaning up the mess and getting her window fixed, at her expense. She reported the crime and was given a card with a case number on it and that was it.

It just irritates the heck out of me. From the fact that it happened, to the fact that people are essentially blaming her, and basically letting these kids get away with being criminals.

I did manage to help her down a few bottles of wine and try our hand at some gymnastics while watching the Olympics. But we can do that on any other night and we certainly don't need to worry about our cars being broken into while we're Plié-ing with a glass of wine in hand.





Monday, July 23, 2012

My Opinion Monday - In the form of an Ecard.

Oh hello, welcome back to me. I've been on a sabbatical of sorts from crafting or anything that requires actual thought, planning and execution. I know that my dear 18 readers have missed me, so I'm back. Although I have not been doing much crafting, I have plenty of opinions to talk about.  Today though, I think my opinion can be best expressed using an ecard that came out of a dinner date with my favorite gal pal.


This pretty much sums up my summer thus far. On the agenda for the weekend: Boating, boozing and an Eric Church concert. Clearly I'm do so much to help both causes. 

Monday, June 4, 2012

My Opinion Monday - My DIY workout shirt

If you're on Pinterest you've seen the "DIY Workout Shirt" tutorials that are floating around. Here's what I'm referring to (mom) so you can see what I'm talking about:

source

Basically you take a t-shirt and make it into a workout shirt (even though I thought t-shirts were already workout shirts???)

Anyways, here's my tutorial on my DIY Workout Shirt. I hope I explained this well enough so even my "not so crafty" friends can follow along!
You really don't need much for this. Just a few dollars in gas and some cash in your bank account!

I don't think that this needs any further explanation. I can even add an action to it so it looks (sort of) cooler:
So fancy no? 
Do you have a super easy DIY workout shirt tip? I'd love to hear it - post it in the comments!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Everything gets painted...

I'm starting to think that this blog should have been titled "Everything gets painted" because everything that we've brought into the house has essentially been painted. And if that piece is really lucky, gets painted again. I recently went on a "donating spree" and got rid of a few items that just weren't serving any purpose other than collecting dust and junk. I got rid of the desk we had in our living room on the office wall because I'd already bought another one from the Salvation Army and Tyler has put me on a one in, one out furniture diet.

You may remember that this is what the wall looked liked after the new paint and accessories went up (and what the house looked like before we painted everything):

Looking good, but I always thought something was missing...
Well, after we painted the new desk and hung up some frames, this is what we've got now:

Tell your boyfriend the color is CORAL and you can get away with
a pink desk :)
Quick, can you spot the differences? Don't mind the heater fan that I clearly didn't realize was there when I was taking the picture or the fact that the chair you're seeing is clearly blocking a bunch of "stuff" that has made its home on the floor in front of this wall. The blue chair and "stuff" needs to go back to the craft room - after we had water in the basement a month ago or so, most of my items got moved upstairs and just haven't made their way back down yet.

Did you notice the CORAL desk though?

My Grandmother would say "ohh, pret-ty, pret-ty!"

I LOVE it! Since the rest of our house is pretty colorful, those colors start to feel like neutrals - the blues, greens, grays, teals - so this coral was just the pop I think this wall needed! I'm going to be painting the chair white I think - or maybe not? thoughts? I've had the chair for about a year now, so glad it finally found a home :)

This piece actually matches another piece we have in our living room that we painted yellow - same line of furniture for sure. The legs match, the drawer handles match, the little wooden applique at the bottom (which you can barely see) matches. It was meant to be in our house (and that's what I had to tell Tyler when he begrudingly came to pick me up from the thrift store since I didn't have a vehicle big enough to get it home. "Hi, um, can you come pick me up at the Salvation Army?"). And at only $20 for the desk itself and $12 for paint, I'd say we have a winner!

I did learn that you should always prime a piece if you're not sure where it's been. The paint didn't take too well to a few places so I was painting, then priming some spots, then painting again. It's a little rough around the edges and I left it that way because I'm lazy to add character.

Now all I have to do is find some knobs I like - which is essentially trying to find a needle in a haystack. Wish me luck!

Monday, May 7, 2012

My Opinion Monday - Bacherlorette Party Etiquette

If you're a girl and you have friends that are girls, you've been to a bacherlorette party at least once in your life (or will be going at some point I hope). I went to one this weekend and had a hootenanny of a good time, but wanted to share some etiquette rules for all the haters that we came upon - and haters I've ran into on other bach parties. Perhaps I was the only one who noticed these peeps but being the judger that I am, it's kind of my thing.

So here are a few rules for all you that come in contact with a bacherlorette party:

1. Stop staring. Yes, the bride and bridesmaids are wearing tutus and she's carrying around a giant, inflatable penis (which didn't happen this past weekend). Yes, all the other girls are dressed in black - or matching at least - but that's what our invite told us to do. The bride is wearing a veil and is looking a hot mess right now. Get over it. Stop staring, we don't want to be your friend anyways.

2. Buy a god damn sucker already. All bacherlorette parties sell something. Whether it's a sucker for a dollar (Suck for a Buck) or a penis shaped cake pop, just buy it. Buy the bride a shot too; the sooner we get her wasted, the sooner we're out of your hair. 

3. Get over the fact that we've asked your boyfriend to get a picture with the bride. She's getting married, she doesn't want to take him home. It's one of her tasks that's been assigned, she doing it because she has to. We convinced a guy to go into the bathroom and put his clothes on our blow up doll at one bach party I was at. His girlfriend thought it was funny, that's how you should think. 

4. Yep, 20 girls just got off a bus and are passing you in the line and not paying (or paying a reduced) cover. Accept that fact. 

5. Yep, those 20 girls just ordered shots so your drinks will take a little bit longer than normal. You'll be okay, I promise. Go pee one more time (before we all do) and by the time you're back, the bar will be all yours and the bathroom will be all ours!

6. Are you kidding me, those 20 girls just took over the dance floor? We.sure.did. And requested NSYNC, we're old. Sorry we're not into whatever the heck it is you kiddos are into these days.  We like our old school tunes (which aren't even very old), and we like to sing them at the top of lungs. We'll be gone in 20 minutes anyways, we've got a bus to catch. 

7. No you can not get on our bus. We all paid at least $25 to be on this thing, no way are we letting free-loaders on our bus. Don't be mad when we say no - remember how we don't even know you?

8. Give us a friggin break. You've all been there, done that, know how some bach parties can get completely out of control and girls get a little cray cray (that's like double crazy mom). We've been drinking heavily for a few more hours than you have, have had way too many jello shots and just don't give a shit at that point. Don't pick fights with us, just take your drunken self elsewhere thank you very much. 

Keep these rules in mind when you see a bacherlorette party ascend on your hangout. Remember that we're most likely 5 jello shots and 3 margs into the evening, don't want to take your boyfriend home and really, really want to take our heels off.  Stop acting like you've never done it before either. 

Friday, April 27, 2012

Backsplash tile is up!


 Soooo, the backsplash tile is up and we're almost done! Just have to pick out flooring, knock out part of a wall and then get the flooring in place! Here are a few pics of the almost completed kitchen!

The picture says "Do the Dishes" - just a friendly reminder :)

Above the stove Craigslist microwave. Loving this.

I'm putting a shelf, THE SHELF that started this whole remodel, on this wall.
After my dad cuts it down because I've realized it's too big. ugh.



And another view, and our Craigslist white dishwasher.
Yeah for matching appliances!

After we let our checkbooks rest for a few weeks, we'll be back with flooring. Super excited!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fabric Flower bridesmaid bouquets - the reveal!

I wanted to show you guys that I've been doing more lately in the crafting world than just this:

Do you drink when you craft? Just curious. 
Lately I've been asked to do a whole slu (that's a word I thought??) of items for a friends upcoming wedding. I loved that she was wanting to do a vintage theme and said yes to everything she asked me to do. I sometimes find myself saying, "Self, you are nuts. Did you see that list of stuff?" but then I look at how awesome the things I've done have turned out and go, "Self, you are awesome!"

So, without further ado, here are the bridesmaid bouquets I made:
Again, cell phone pics don't resize that great. 


And then up close and personal:
T+K

I used a combination of several different fabrics to achieve this look - I am really happy how they turned out and I think the bride is as well! I'm in the process of whipping up some other items for her and as soon as they're ready for the world, you'll be the first to know!

If you or someone you know is getting married and is looking for a different type of flower arrangement or any other projects, let me know! I'd love to make something for you or them!

Monday, April 16, 2012

My Opinion Monday - Always be prepared.

I wish I could say this was a guest post, but alas, this happened to me. Thanks to the in-laws for being such good sports about my lack of being prepared. 


My dad was a Boy Scout leader for what felt like my entire childhood. I remember many times going to these meetings as some sort of family outing - makes our last family trip to the John Deere factory and Cabela's look like Disneyland now that I think about it though! I would stand when they did their pledge, mimic their signs and pretend I knew what I was doing. I'm practically a Boy Scout - probably have my Eagle patch by now. In fact, I most likely would have had more badges from Boy Scouts than from my Girl Scout days (my troupe leader was a nut-so crazy lady). Two weeks ago over Easter weekend though, I would have totally had my "Prepardness Badge" removed.

It all started with the hurried packing I did for the weekend a mere 20 minutes before we left town for 2 days. I had thrown about 12 outfits in my bag  (I wore sweatpants for a good 24 hours though) because I had no idea what we'd be doing and what I thought to be about 6 pair of underwear. I generally overpack - as for underwear, I pack about 3 pair per day I'm going to be gone. I don't know why, but I do. I just reach into the  clothes basket of clean clothes that hasn't made it to the dresser drawer yet drawer and grab what I can, stuff it in my bag and call it done. Not this weekend though. That weekend I apparently neglected to get the handful of stuff into my bag.

In a fit of panic, I decided I'd just wash them in the sink, hang them to dry and they'd be all good by the time we were ready to go out. I was not about to just turn them inside out - I'd been in sweat pants for a good solid 24 hours, and well, you know how that is. The moment I threw them in the sink though, I knew I'd made a mistake. "Oh my god, what am I going to do? I'll just ask his sister if I can borrow a pair of hers. Okay, perfect, no one will ever know."

So that's what I did. I asked my boyfriend's sister if she had an extra pair. She has 3 kids and a husband, of course she packs extra everything right? Wrong.  You see where this is going right? 


I wasn't about to go without for the evening, so his mom offered me a pair and I asked that we not share that fact with him. I ended up telling him anyways because he'd seen my "freshly washed in the sink" pair that I'd draped over a fan in hopes of them drying before I put his mom's on. No dice. Oh, did I mention this was on our anniversary? I wore his mom's underwear on our 2 year anniversary. How did he get so lucky? Or how did I get so lucky that no one even blinked an eye when I asked to borrow such a thing!?

And after we'd all had a good laugh about that, his 3 year old niece found a green condom in my purse and proudly came running around the corner to show all of us, his parents included, her new finger puppet. Needless to say, that pretty much trumped the underwear fiasco and disqualified me from every getting my Preparedness Badge back.

Source


Anyone else have any embarrassing stories from visiting the in-laws they'd like to share?? What badge would you lose for sure?



Monday, March 26, 2012

My Opinion Monday - selling on Craigslist

I've been bitten by the Craigslist bug (no, not that one that requires an antibiotic, I stay out of the W4M section) recently and have come across some really annoying habits of people that post their items for sale. There's a way to sell items on Craigslist - it's called the cheap way. This is not the showroom at Homemakers furniture people, it's your garage so no one is going to pay what you paid 6 months ago. It's like buying a brand new car and driving it across the lot and expecting to get exactly what you paid for it, or more! Here are some pet peeves I've found in recent posts (my apologizes if these links don't work by the time this is posted or you get around to reading it...)

1. Big Daddy Chair - $325. This fella notes he doesn't have room for it and needs to sell for the space. My question - WHYDIDYOUBUYITIFYOUDONOTHAVEROOMFORITTHEN? Did you not think at the store, "hmm, this looks really big but I bet it won't fit in my house..." I imagine it went more like "hmm, this looks really big, I don't think it'll fit in my studio apartment but I've got $500 to burn so I'll take it! If it doesn't fit, I can always sell it on Craigslist." Good luck with that. PS I rotated the picture for you :)



2. Huge Mirror - $150 This poster notes it's "still in new condition" - um no it's not sweetie. Do you now why? Because you bought it, therefore making it new to you, second hand to anyone else that purchases it. And if you paid more than $150 for that mirror, you got robbed. You should go to Gordman's next time.


3. 3-piece bedroom set - $500 500 dollars? Are you serious? For a headboard, dresser and nightstand from 19whenever? I paid $10 for a headboard like that at the Salvation Army a few months ago. I'm going to cover it with fabric. I didn't buy it for looks, I bought it for the function. If I want to pay $500 for a bedroom set, I'll go spend twice that at a store and finance it for free. You'll be lucky to sell this for $125.


4. Custom Tile Fireplace -$250 Seller notes it's look great in any house. He's clearly not seen an updated, contemporary home that has a fireplace using tiles that cost more than the $0.54 ones that he's selling. Custom items are custom to you, not to anyone else purchasing them. No one will pay what you paid for custom. If they do, you better remember their name so you can sell them the rest of your stuff.



5. Comfy bamboo/wood furniture set - $450 I'm sorry, comfy and bamboo/wood just don't really belong in the same sentence. The couch posted has bamboo arms. I can tell you that does not look like a place I'd like to lay my head down and take a siesta (nap for all you that failed Spanish). I love The Golden Girls, but I don't want their furniture; I actually sit on mine for more than a few hours at a time while taping.


6. Television wall mount - $20 Ah yes, because everyone is mounting their giant tube TVs. If you paid $50 for it at Mendards, TAKE IT BACK! Don't people save receipts? Although, this is for an old school tube TV that pretty much only 3 year olds have now.


7. Hide-a-bed couch - $20 It's like a Where's Waldo in this picture. It really is hiding. I had no idea what I was even looking for. Thank goodness the seller apologizes for the pathetic photo. But if you recognize that it's a bad photo, TAKE ANOTHER ONE! If you don't have the option, just put it on the curb and put it in the free section.


8. Ethan Allen Sofa - $500 OMGOD I can't believe she paid $2600 for this sofa when it was new! The only person that likes this sofa is "beautiful" is my grandmother, and she doesn't have a computer. Therefore, she does not have the internet and can not contact you to purchase.

9. Potato Bin - $20 Much like the TV stand above, wondering if these things are still useful. Good to know that the top and drawer open though.


10. Every other post that does not include a picture. Include a picture. Even my dad has a phone that will take a quick picture. Do it. I bet your stuff gets more attention that way. I myself don't even look at posts without pictures. I like to see what I'm going to waste my time on.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Kitchen Remodel Update

I know this doesn't look like much (okay, yes it does) but I wanted to post a few new pics of the progress on the kitchen remodel. We're in the final staging of pouring our concrete countertops and hopefully those will be installed next week. In the meantime, all the painting has been completed and hardware has been updated:



The accent cabinets are not white - they are Benjamin Moore Barely Teal and match/accent my Kitchen Aid mixer pretty well. That pretty little beaut will be stationed on this side of the kitchen for all to see!  These cabinets do have the same hardware as the gray cabinets, I just haven't taken an updated photo of that yet.

And as you've noticed, the booze has still not left the kitchen. Even though I added a ton of cabinet space, you didn't see that I actually had some storage racks there previously and so all that I had on those I've put in these cabinets. I really didn't gain much storage space, but I did gain covered storage space which I love. The big cabinet is awesome for those silly appliances you hardly use - crockpots, griddle, blender, etc. I still haven't found a permanent home for the booze though...it needs to be easily accessible, visible and in the kitchen. And that is where it has stayed during this time. I'm sure when all things are done it'll be tucked away nicely in a cabinet.

And one more picture - part of the concrete countertop almost ready for filling, sanding and finishing:
I do realize that one section is curing better than the rest. Well, that's because we were so excited to make sure it look much better than the underside that we slide it off the form just a bit to take a peak. Then the next day we flipped it over and noticed that portion was curing faster than the rest. So we're hoping that by next week it's fully cured and we can get these puppies filled, sanded and finished!

Please excuse the horrible quality of all the photos on my blog. I'm still rocking a 3 Megapixel cell phone camera. Don't hate. 

Monday, March 19, 2012

My Opinion Monday - posting sweet nothings on hisFacebook

I'm going to offend someone in this post for sure, probably close friends that even read this blog but I'm doing it for your own good. Please take what I'm about to say to heart and change the way you tell your significant other that you love them and can't live without them. 

Facebook is not the place to do that. 

I've noticed a trend in seeing my friends posting sweet nothings on their significant others Facebook wall and it makes me cringe. I grew up getting cards telling me how much my parents love me (and to this day will get at least 4 per occasion...one for me from my mom, one from my dad, one from my dog, and one for Tyler and I from my parents) and although there are times I think it's overkill, I still enjoying getting those in the mail knowing that they took the time to actually go to a store, read through a bunch of cards, underline what they want to emphasize, put money in them, and mail them to me. It means something to me. I do the same for Tyler. Cards are a must for every holiday - he found out the hard way this past year on my birthday and hasn't  missed since!

When I see my friends posting on their husband's wall (because Facebook makes me) sweet nothings about how much they love each other, how they couldn't imagine life without them and how they can't wait to spend every single day together for the rest of their lives and have babies and grow old together and on and on and on...well, it sounds forced and in my opinion, cheapens the actual sentiment behind it. I mean, come on ladies (yes I'm talking to you, we all know most men aren't doing this), you LIVE with the guy and you're going to see him in 4 hours when you're off work. Can't you send him a text or give him a card if you can't say it to his face!? if you find that you can't actually say it to his face, you've got other issues. Getting hammered drunk might help though. You don't need all 400 Facebook friends to see how much you love each other via your Facebook wall posts. Unless you're trying to prove a point to someone that you know is going to see it...which makes it even less meaningful. 

I know that you love your husband (or boyfriend for that matter) - you're either MARRIED to him or living with him so I get it, I don't need to see it on Facebook. If you must show the Facebook world how much you love each other, do it with pictures (PG though, save the X-rated for another site) or your relationship status. 

It takes just as much effort if not more to login to Facebook, find their page, get to their wall, type the message and hit post. How about picking up the phone, hitting #2 for speed dial (your mom should be first) and telling that person how much you love them. Or go the extra mile and write an actual note, like on a piece of paper or grab a card the next time you're at Target. Then pick up some of his favorite candy to go with. He'll probably do the dishes that night for you. Doubt he does that after your Facebook post. 

So please friends,  think before you post next time. If it's something like "hey, forgot my phone today, can you grab some spaghetti on your way home? Love you!" that's one thing. But "Oh my god, you are the best thing to ever happen to me, I love you so much, I'm so happy we are together..." - wait until you get home and tell him face to face or shoot him a quick text message if you just can't stand not telling him for 4 hours..or 2 minutes since he's probably just in the bathroom and all. 

Monday, February 27, 2012

My Opinion Monday - renovation realities

They don't show this stuff on HGTV so I'm going to show it here on my blog -mostly so my mom - hi mom! - can see the disaster progress that has taken place.

We start with a seemly normal kitchen, the standard 1995 remodel - navy blue was in during the 90's for sure (my mom's kitchen has blue accents too and a floor very similar to this one - which we both hate - seriously manufacturers, white flooring in a KITCHEN??? really though WHITE FLOORING?? what are you thinking? and what are WE thinking for even considering that as a choice?? but I didn't pick this, the previous owners did. phew!)

So here are the BEFORE pictures of this accidental remodel:

It's clean now...but just wait

A whole bunch of wasted space in my opinion...

Then I bought a couple shelves from IKEA and that's where this all stems from:
New wall color, new panel color - obviously
Even though I'd like to blame it on this:
"This is easy babe!" Um yes I know this is the easy PART.
It all sucks from here. Remember how I've done this before?
I just realized I didn't post that remodel of the Jefferson casa.
I came home to this the other night after work. I was less than impressed...but look at how nicely his pants match his "Palin Stanzi 2012" shirt! Luckily his parents were coming the weekend to help out. I'd seen his painting skills...they were best left on the golf course tee markers and such. I am uber particular, as is his mom, so I was awaiting her help with painting the cabinets. 

In the meantime, this is what the place started to look like:
No worries - the booze has not left the kitchen. 
You only get one picture, it pretty much sums it up. 

Then I bought some cabinets off Craigslist and things started coming together with the help of his dad:
The 2 smaller cabinets are upper cabinets so they built
a base for those, complete with a toe kick area. 

But first we had to do this:

Which sucked since we'd JUST painted all that damn trim. It's still behind
the cabinets though...well, behind the smaller cabinets I should say. 
And this is what we had before our ambitious evening: 
I need the doors to be back on. The 'open shelf' concept
will not work in this kitchen...at least this side anyways.
And without the backsplash now:
Looks better already!

And this - except these have been painted with the charcoal gray color that you see on the frames above:
The punching bag has gotten a bit of use during this project...but only
because I kept bumping into it by accident. And yes, it's from Goodwill too.
So there you have it.  The stuff they don't show on HGTV that all of us who have been through a remodel before has experienced. 

And if none of that makes sense, here's the color palette:




Imagine concrete countertops, a mable slab on the accent cabinets wall and some new flooring....and none of the mess!

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